DAY 76: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.05 3.06 Parallel Parking, Circuit Slope

Today I managed to clear 2 subjects which were parallel parking and circuit slope. I found parallel parking to be the most difficult technique so far as it involved the most actions and checking.

Here are steps and indicators to take note when performing parallel parking. For better visualization and clarity, I advise that you refer to the Practical Training Handbook or consult your driving instructor.

When entering the lane with the parallel parking slot (on your left):.

1. Drive straight forward until about ½ car length from the junction. Make sure your car is at the centre of the lane. For indication. check your right window, and make sure the white dashed line in the middle of the road is just above the edge of right door window 
2. Adjust left side mirror until you can see the rear wheel
3. Change gear to Reverse and check left and right blind spots and rear window
4. Signal left
5. Reverse until the left wheel is in line with the front side of last rectangle of the left kerb by looking at the left side mirror (the kerb is coloured with black and white rectangles)
6. Check right and left side for incoming vehicles
7. Immediately left full lock steering wheel and reverse until you can see right rear wheel in line with the middle of the rear kerb from the right side mirror (coloured by black and yellow rectangles) Also check left side mirror to make sure rear left wheel is not too near to the left kerb
8. Immediately return steering wheel to the centre before stopping the car
9. Adjust right side mirror until you can see the rear wheel
10. Check left right blind spots and rear window
11. Continue to reverse until rear right wheel is above the white border line of the parking lot (as seen from the right side mirror)
12. Cancel left signal
13. Immediately right full lock steering wheel.and continue to reverse until vehicle is straightened. 
14. Change to gear 1, immediately left full lock steering wheel while moving car forward until vehicle is straightened. Make sure you see not more than 4 rectangles on the left side mirror or else your car may risk hitting the front kerb.
15. Change to Reverse gear and reverse car until only 3 rectangles of the left kerb are seen in the left side mirror. 
16. Once done, change gear to neutral, pull hand brake and raise hand to inform tester that parallel parking is completed

To move off:

1. Change to gear 1, move car forward until about 4 rectangles of the left kerb can be seen on the left side mirror 
2. Change to Reverse gear and left full lock steering while reversing (check rear mirror first). Check both sides mirror to make sure rear wheels do not hit kerb. 
3. Return steering to centre before stop
4. Set side mirrors’ position back to previous setting (for main road driving)
5. Change to gear 1, check right blind spot. 
6. Signal right
7. Right full lock steering while moving forward until left door handle is in line with the left kerb of the lane.
8. Cancel signal
9. Continue move forward and steer car left to straighten the car

The next time we came back to the slot to try parallel parking another time, I realized I was not able to adjust my side mirrors back to the same position as the one just now. The indicators were not at the same position anymore. So the final parallel parking was not successful as my car was parked quite out of the lot. So far, I have not figured out how to mitigate this. Perhaps in the next lesson I will find a way or perhaps with more practice, it will come naturally.

After parallel parking, we proceed to do the stopping and moving off of the circuit slope. As I had done this before in Stage 2, it was more like a recap.


Things to note:

• To pass parallel parking, right side mirror much stay inside the white line bordering the parking lot. The car must also stop at the centre of the parking lot
• If brake too hard while reversing, tester might think that you have hit the rear kerb
• Remember to check blind spot, and signal.
• 10 points will be penalised for striking kerb. Stop car if you’re about to strike kerb even if the car is not straightened yet to avoid being heavily penalized
• 5 minutes is not a lot to perform parallel parking during test. Try to get it right the first time
• For moving off slope, need to signal right and check blind spot before moving off
• Accelerate until about 3000 rpm before releasing handbrake
• Do not release accelerator or clutch until car has reached the top of the slope else the car may slide backward
• When going down slop, make sure to use engine brake

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1818.33